Thank you for gift

[Lu]

(( Okies, for those that don't know (although I think Lu told just about everyone she has met) Alita gave Lu a kind of amazing sword as a gift last week. Details can be published if required. But it kind of overwhelmed Lu who doesn't entirely believe she deserves such a wealthy gift, and wants to show Ali how much she appreciates it.

I wanted to write up a bit about Lu's plans for her date with Alita to show her how much she appreciates the sword. Not sure this is quite right, so I'd appreciate pointers for improvement. I can't figure out where I needed to focus with this one so it seems a little woolly.

Anyway, here you go - sorry for the waffle... ))

"So I should be able to choose any of them, so long as I can transport them away from the track myself? Is that right?" Lu said into the telephone receiver, trying to keep the excitement she felt out of her voice.

"Yes, I see, yes I can get tickets. At least I hope I can, is it likely to be sold out if I call the booking office today? ..... No, okay, that's good." She paused, listening to the man at the other end of the phone, nodding and scribbling names and directions on the pad of paper she had in front of her.

"That sounds fantastic. Thank you Tom. You have been a real help. I hope to see you after the race then. Oh." A thought struck her, "Would it be possible to maybe get a look at the cars close up before they start? I appreciate it is unusual, but like I said, it's a surprise gift for some one special."

Lu's grin broadened and her eyes sparkled "Really? Wow! I'm sure that would be ace. Thank you very much. So I guess I'll see you there before the race then. Thank you again." Hanging up the phone, Lu could hardly contain her nervous excitement. She hoped Alita would like the plan. Now it was just a matter of sorting out transport back for her, Ali and the car and figuring out how to persuade Ali to come away for the day without explaining why.

Picking up the phone book, she started looking through it for car recovery companies to find one that would bring the car back from the derby. Damn, where is it going to go? I need to ask Richard if he minds her working on it in his garage. Oh I hope he doesn't

With a worried expression on her face she quickly dialed Sam's number to try and ask either her, or her brother about the garage. And while she was on, maybe she could hatch a plan to get Ali's overalls so she could have them after the race in case she wanted them on when looking at the cars.

*****

Lu hummed as she prepared the meal. Matchstick vegetables and slivers of the chicken so they are ready to throw in the wok with the sauce, the wine vinegar, sugar, a little soy sauce and some others spices. Chopping the items up with her knife wasn't quite as much fun as working with her new katana, but it was worth it. Covering the raw food until it would be needed she went through to the living room to prepare the table.

Her eyes were drawn to the blade in the corner and she struggled to resist the temptation to run through a quick kata with it. Finding the candles Alita had used, Lu set the table, leaving space for the wine chilling in the fridge before checking her bag for the following day.

She had in there tickets for the banger racing and the spare overalls she had borrowed when Ali had been trying to explain an engine to her. She also had a small wrapped gift to give Alita a hint of where they would be going that she intended to give her tomorrow.

It was a little toy car she had put in the street to get smashed up a little by the traffic. She grinned as she anticipated Alita's confusion when she saw the gift, looking forward to explaining it. Her heart skipped a beat, What if she doesn't like it? What if she was looking forward to going shopping and doesn't want to go see the banger racing? She looked over at the sword and felt overwhelmed by the attention that had been put into its creation. She knew she didn't deserve that amount of attention, of effort that must have gone into making it.

Hopefully a meal and a relaxing night in followed by a day out shopping a little and then watching banger racing would go some way towards showing her appreciation. Lu couldn't decide when to give her the smashed car. Perhaps near the end of the race? She would tell Ali that she had arranged for her to have one of the smashed up cars when she gave her the gift, but when should she tell her? Lu didn't know anything about cars, she didn't know if Ali would want to know before the race so she could watch them all with that in mind.

She would tell her before the race. While they were looking at the cars that were going to take part. That decided she had a quick look round to check everything was okay, table, music, food was ready to cook as soon as Ali arrived, wine was in the fridge. She didn't think there was anything else so she headed for the bathroom to shower and change before Alita arrived.

[Ves]

Huntington Manor 01:00

*Clang!*

“Sweet mother of Christ!”

*Thud*

“Shit!”

*Thud*

“Medic!!”

All around the grounds were still and quiet as the occupants of the lavish mansion were either sleeping, out for the night, or busy doing whatever it is that people do at 1am. Apart from the current resident of the garage, who was in the process of turning the air blue with a stream of profanity that would make the most hardened of sailors blush with envy.

“1, 2, lift this damned hood off me, 3 bring me the special first aid box from under my bed please, and be quick about it” a muffled voice called out from somewhere under the hood of what appeared to be a vehicle of some kind, though this conclusion was based upon the fact that it had wheels.

The lower body connected to the impatiently tapping foot belonged to Alita Crane, and her current predicament would have caused much laughter and merriment for any observer, so long as they didn’t mind chewing on a trolley jack. She’d been trying to remove the bolts holding the ‘cars’ engine in place when her wrench slipped and her hand had crashed into the exhaust manifold, this in turn had caused her to swiftly stand and bounce her head off the underside of the hood, knocking it loose so that it fell and trapped her in the engine bay. Funny indeed, but painful to boot.

Two sleek metallic shapes clambered onto the front wings of the wreck and between them were able to prise the offending metal plate up enough for their creator to wriggle her way out and collapse on the floor in an ungainly heap, blood dripping thickly from a small but deep gash on the knuckles of her wrench hand. Moments later a third mechanical shape scuttled to her side with a large secure box above its head. Placing the container by her good hand the little figure headed out of reach and stood with the others.

Alita tapped in the 5 digit security code and carefully opened the box to take out her medical supplies without getting them too messy from the oil, dirt and grime on her hands. First out was a large bottle of Jack Daniels which, after she’d spat a mouthful onto her hand as a primitive antiseptic, she took several large gulps of to help numb the pain shooting through her hand and head. Next out was a pack of smokes, and after lighting one and taking a few slow pulls, she turned her attention back to the mechanical helpers
“Okay, I’m gonna need clean, warm water, a large glass, some ice for the JD, an ice pack for my hand, and probably a needle and thread. Oh, and my special gloves. Hop to it boys, this little beauty isn’t going to rebuild itself now is it?”

Taking another hit of the Jack Daniels as she clambered back to her feet, Alita looked at the mangled wreck of a car before her. Tears of joy welled up in the corners of her eyes, it was perfect, the greatest gift she’d ever received, so long as she didn’t count any of the kisses Lu had also given her.

Ahhh Lu, she’d gone to so much trouble setting everything up, the beautifully romantic meal and cosy night in would have been more than enough, but no, she hadn’t stopped there.
Chuckling quietly she thought of their ‘light’ shopping trip and the number of admiring glances they had received as they strolled around the mall. The wolf whistles were fun to, but a fair few hearts had been broken when they’d realised that the ladies they desired were both unobtainable. With a sly grin she also remembered managing to sneak off to one of the shops that Sam frequented, but that was a surprise for another time.

Almost all of the dates Alita had ever been on before she met Lu would have ended there, or even after the meal. Those dates were stereotypical, like something from one of the countless romance movies and TV shows.

Romance wasn’t just a nice meal and a bunch of flowers, it took thought, effort and more than a little cunning.

Romance was taking your engine obsessed grease monkey girl to a dirt oval ‘banger’ racing meet, and then telling her she gets to check out all the cars before and after the races. That was when she saw it, the second most amazing sight of the day.

Sat in its pit bay was a Mk five Ford Escort, hood up as the mechanics made some last minute adjustments before the race. It took all the will power she had for Alita to stop herself from clinging to it like a limpet. And when Lu told her she’d made arrangements with the various teams for her to take one of the cars home, Alita almost exploded with excitement.

For the rest of their date Alita had sat with her arms around Lu and a huge happy smile on her face

With an elated sigh she shrugged of her over-alls and wobbled her way up to her quarters on the floor above, turning out the lights as she went, pausing to call out a few final instructions to her robots “When I get round to waking up, I expect the remains of the interior to be removed and disposed of safely. And if Lu visits, be sure to let her up. Good night”

With that she quietly closed her door and sat down on her sofa to attend to her hand before bed, thankful it didn't require stitches. A final small glass of JD and tottered off to bed, considering herself the luckiest girl in Paragon to have found someone like Lu before anyone else had.